FIA unearths corruption in Customs Dept

Three directors accused of accepting hefty sums of cash, 61 tolas of gold as bribes

KARACHI:

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has uncovered a colossal financial scandal involving Customs Department officials giving in to corruption and enabling rampant smuggling activities through bribery. Even more astonishing is the revelation that these officers have been indulging in luxury, splurging on pricy properties in the elite neighbourhoods with their ill-gotten gains.

The sordid details of this multimillion-rupee corruption have come to light in a damning interim challan presented by the FIA. The document exposes the shocking truth that three Customs directors have accepted hefty sums of cash, along with a staggering 61 tolas of gold, as bribes.

These massive payoffs have allegedly been an ongoing practice, with the officers allegedly receiving multimillion rupee bribes each month to facilitate the smuggling of diesel, betel nut, clothes, Iranian juices, and chocolates, among other illicit goods.

But wait, it gets worse. A closed Whatsapp group has also been unveiled, orchestrating the seamless clearance of vehicles trafficking these smuggled goods across Pakistan. Astonishingly, this murky group includes several field officers who have embraced the role of smugglers' accomplices, enabling their nasty activities.

As per the FIA report, 386 Customs intelligence and field officers have been actively complicit in providing fraudulent clearance for vehicles registered within this covert list. The Customs officer presiding over this Whatsapp cabal has been caught red-handed, slipping an incriminating Rs3 per liter bribe to fellow officers for facilitating the smuggling of diesel.

A money laundering scheme was also brought to light, with the bribe money discreetly spirited away from the metropolitan city to escape the clutches of justice. Those responsible for extorting these bribes were no strangers to receiving bountiful returns themselves.

Surprisingly, not a single one among the nearly two dozen conniving smugglers involved has faced justice despite the gravity of this scandal. Equally troubling is the FIA's failure to apprehend any other high-ranking officials apart from those already named in the FIR.

The scale and audacity of this scandal are deeply disturbing, demanding swift action to excise this cancer from the Customs Department. The authorities must rise to the occasion, conducting an unprejudiced investigation, ensuring that all involved, irrespective of their status, face the full brunt of the law for their heinous actions.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2023.